1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydrogen electrode of an alkaline type hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell, and a method of producing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, it is well known that Raney nickel is more effective than Raney chrome as a catalyst in a hydrogen electrode of a fuel cell, as described in Japanese patent application publication Nos. 22,996/75 and 22,997/75. However, Raney nickel, when used as a catalyst in a hydrogen electrode, has drawbacks in that it can not afford a high electric current generation efficiency because of its large polarization and because the output voltage of a fuel cell using the hydrogen electrode is decreased with the elapse of time. In order to obviate these drawbacks, there has been proposed a method wherein molybdenum is added to the Raney nickel as described in Japanese patent application publication No. 23,792/73, a method wherein molybenum and titanium or zirconium are added to the Raney nickel as described in Japanese patent application publication No. 22,996/75, and a method wherein iron and titanium or zirconium are added to the Raney nickel as described in Japanese patent application publication No. 22,997,75, which methods aim to activate and stabilize the catalyst. As a result, it was found out that the addition of titanium is particularly effective such that the polarization of conventional hydrogen electrodes using the Raney nickel can be reduced to about half as much. Nevertheless, in order to improve the electric current generation efficiency of fuel cells, a much better hydrogen electrode has been greatly desired.